No. 3 Truman Rolls in Top 10 Volleyball Showdown

ROLLA, Mo. - The No. 3 Truman volleyball squad passed their first pair of tests in the 2008 season, as the squad swept Day One of the Missouri S&T "Middle of Everywhere" Classic by taking a 3-0 decision against No.6 Grand Valley (Mich.) State after winning a five-set thriller in the day's opener against Missouri-St. Louis.

Truman (2-0) held the GVSU Lakers to a .073 hitting percentage in the nightcap, as the Bulldogs rolled in their first of many top-25 battles this season - winning by scores of 25-22, 25-18 and 25-16. Senior Eli Medina posted Truman's first double-double of the 2008 campaign with 10 kills and 16 digs.

After being out-hit in game one .140 to .105, Truman turned up the offense by committing just six errors in the final two games, while forcing Grand Valley into 15 errors to counter just 18 kills.

The two squads traded punches in the first game before Truman pieced together a 4-1 end-of-game run at 21-21 to win 25-22. In game two, Truman rattled off a 7-0 run at 11-11 behind the serving of senior Whitney Boehler before holding serve en route to a two game lead.

Truman's defense stepped up even more in game three, holding GVSU to a .029 hitting percentage, while the offense countered with its highest output of the night at .379 (13-2-29) to close out the match in just over an hour.

Earlier in the day, four players tallied double-digit kills as Truman won a five-set thriller in their season-opener 3-2 (18-25, 25-23, 25-10, 23-25, 15-12) against Missouri-St. Louis.

Graybeal led all Bulldogs with 11 kills and hit .455, while three other 'Dogs - Cherven, senior Melissa Keck and junior Jenna Novelli - each added ten kills. Novelli did not commit an error and hit .556 in her Truman debut.

Sophomore Ashley Petak had a team-best 25 assists, and junior Krysta Tholen tacked on 15. Tholen added nine digs, as the Bulldogs were paced by senior libero Whitney Boehler's 25 on the afternoon.

The Bulldogs are back in action with matches tomorrow against North Alabama and Missouri S&T.